10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014

Until about 2 p.m. EST, it looked like just another day in the market. But two hours before the closing bell rang in the weekend, a flurry of selling began, driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) down 208 points, or 1.4%, to end at 15,115. Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE  ) stock led blue chips lower, as Wall Street panicked, presuming the Fed would taper its stimulus efforts after business activity jumped in May.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) ended as the top stock in the Dow, adding 0.3% on news that the chip maker would power Samsung's upcoming 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3. Not only is it great for Intel to align itself with a market leader in an up-and-coming tablet market, but the company is also stealing business from a rival. ARM Holdings�was formerly the exclusive manufacturer of chips in Samsung-powered devices.�

Alcoa (NYSE: AA  ) shares barely stayed in the black on Friday, tacking on 0.1%. However, on a day like today, when 28 of the 30 stocks in the Dow fell, maintaining small gains isn't so shabby. Investors were encouraged by confidence from Chicago's manufacturing industry, as the Windy City's purchasing managers' index registered at 58.7 today, far higher than the reading economists expected.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) jumped 5.2% this week after the company increased its share buyback program by $5 billion and increased its dividend payment from $0.85 to $0.95 per quarter. In an interview late this week, Warren Buffett said he wouldn't be selling shares of IBM after the company's disappointing earnings in the first quarter. He also said he "may have added a little bit" of the company's stock in the first quarter, another long-term positive for the tech giant. �

• [By Alex Planes]

  Now I assign the Internet the highest level of importance. In this memo I want to make clear that our focus on the Internet is crucial to every part of our business. The Internet is the most important single development to come along since the IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) PC was introduced in 1981. It is even more important than the arrival of the graphical user interface (GUI). ...

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Shares of Chevron (NYSE: CVX  ) are up 1.6% despite a 1% drop in the price of oil today. Competitors BP and Statoil were raided by EU regulators over possible oil-price fixing today. Chevron hasn't been implicated yet, so that's a good sign for now. Another factor in the pop today is that Chevron's stock goes ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that if you hold the stock after the market closes tonight, you'll receive the $1 dividend. This can cause abnormal short-term moves in stocks.

Top 5 Warren Buffett Companies To Buy Right Now: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Hill]

  Shares of Visa (NYSE: V  ) rose to an all-time high this week after the company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Earlier in the week, Mastercard (NYSE: MA  ) reported a 12% increase in first-quarter profits, but shares fell on lower-than-expected revenues. In this installment of Motley Fool Money, our analysts discuss Visa, MasterCard, and the future of electronic payments.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ong Kang Wei]

  Another example of such a product is Colgate-Palmolive (CL)'s Colgate toothpaste. I do not think I have to elaborate much here. Toothpaste is needed in our everyday life, and we will definitely have to buy more toothpaste after we have finished using a packet of it, ensuring that Colgate gets more and more sales over the years.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Doug Ehrman]

  Having bounced nicely off their recent low below $400 per share, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) shares have been heading higher ever since. The question that investors now want answered is whether the stock can reach $500 and beyond anytime soon. While competition for the iPhone from Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Android devices and for the iPad from Microsoft, particularly given the recent news that Microsoft may be acquiring Nook Media from Barnes & Noble, are factors, the single biggest threat to Apple's race to $500 is the broader market. If the market can avoid a correction, Apple has a chance. If not, it's likely to put the next century mark on hold for at least a few months.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Next week, search juggernaut Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) will officially kick off Google I/O, its annual developer conference where it's expected to show off the latest and greatest Android developments. The event will be held at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, the same venue where Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and Microsoft are hosting their own respective developer conferences next month.

• [By Anders Bylund]

  If Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 is any indication, the Note 3 will indeed be a big seller. The Note 2 moved 5 million units in its first two months on the market, and those are huge numbers for an individual Android product. Google and manufacturing partner ASUS could hardly make enough Nexus 7 tablets to meet demand in 2012 and ended up with about 5 million units sold. Android tablets match Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) market-leading iPad blow for blow these days, though mostly through strength in numbers.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Samsung Electronics topped the list with a record 88.4 million units shipped and a record 35% market share. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), which reported earnings earlier Monday afternoon, reported sales of 33.8 million units and market share of 13%. Huawei Technologies shipped 12.7 million units to retain the third largest share of the market with a 5% share.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By GuruFocus]

  The decade low yield of tobacco stocks can be clearly seen from our new interactive charts, which are embedded below. The chart shows the dividend yield of three tobacco stocks: Reynolds American (RAI), Philip Morris International (PM) and British American Tobacco (BTI).

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) has experienced more than impressive growth in both its share price and its profits in the past four years. Lately its gains have petered out. The problem is that much of that growth has come from a few countries in Asia, and if one analyst report is accurate, there will be little to no growth from those areas ahead. Nomura Securities is downgrading Philip Morris to a Reduce rating from Neutral, but for all practical purposes it is a Sell rating. The firm’s $76 price target suggests downside of more than $10 ahead.

10 Best Blue Chip Stocks To Watch For 2014: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

  With casual-dining rivals such as McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) and Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN  ) pushing deeper into its coffee space, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) is set to push back. The company will be rolling out an expanded food menu soon. Fool contributor Demitrios Kalogeropoulos discusses why this makes sense for Starbucks, and what kind of boost it could give to the company's sales.

• [By Katie Spence]

  As you can see, leisure and hospitality make up 34%. Most of those jobs are in restaurants and other food services -- like McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) , Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG  ) , Yum Brands' (NYSE: YUM  ) Taco Bell, and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) . Consequently, if the Fair Minimum Wage Act is passed, it'll have the biggest impact on fast-food and restaurant companies.

• [By Tamara Rutter]

  Mouth off
  It's no secret that McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) is fighting critics who claim advertising fast food to children is wrong. In 2004, the Golden Arches started offering sliced apples as an alternative to fries in its iconic Happy Meals, in an attempt to offer healthier options for children eating at its restaurants. Unfortunately, that didn't do the trick.